Lace-curtain stretcher.



No. 680,3QI. Patented Aug. I3, |90l.

J. C. WHIPPLE. LACE CURTAIN STBETCHER.

:Application tiled Feb. 1, 1899.)'

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JAMES C. VHIPPLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LACE-CURTAIN STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letterslatent No. 680,301, dated August13, 1901'.

Application filed February 1, 1899. Serial No. 704,085. (No model.) v

T @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. WHIPPLE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and nseful Improvements in Lace-CurtainStretchers, of which the following, when taken in connection with thedrawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, is a full and completedescription, suicient to enable those skilled in the art to which itpertains to understand, make, and use the same.

The invention relates to that class or kind of lace-curtain stretcherswhich are designed to be set up for use and folded or taken down whennot in use.

The object of this invention is to obtain a lace-curtain stretcher whichshall be neat in appearance, not liable to get out of order, and ofmoderate cost to make.

In lace curtain stretcher-s of the kind l named, side rails composed,respectively, of

two bars joined together at their inner and adjacent ends are secured attheir outer ends to end rails, thereby obtaining a rectangular frame,such frame being made adjustable by the pivotal connections at themeeting ends of the side and end rails being made through slots. Inorder to construct the side rails of light material, it is necessary toprovide specially-constructed hinges for joining the bars together atthe adjacent ends thereof in the side rail wherein such bars are hingedtogether. It is also necessary to provide special mechanism for joiningtogether the adjacent ends of the bars forming the side rail where suchbars are not hinged together, and it is further necessary to provide across-bar and means for securing it near its ends to the side rails ator adjacent to the joined ends of the bars constituting such side rails;and this inventionY comprises, first, a specially-constructed hinge forjoining together adjacent ends of the bars forming a hinged side rail,preferably used for one side rail of the stretcher, and for securing onevend of the cross-bar to the hinge and to such side rail in a manner toprevent sagging of the side rail as well as any bowing inward thereof;secondly, amechanism for securing together adjacent ends of the barsforming a side rail whereof the bars are not hinged together, such siderail preferably forming the remaining side rail of a stretcher embodyingthis invention, and mechanism for securing the end of the cross-bar tosuch connecting mechanism and to the adjacent ends of the bars formingsuch side rail, and, thirdly, the combining of the foregoing-named hingeand mechanism, respectively, with the respective side bars named.

In the drawings referred to as forming a part of this specification,Figure l is'a plan View, on a smaller figure than are the remainingfigures of the drawings, but not to scale, of a lace-curtain stretcherembodying this inventon; Fig. 2, a bottom plan view of the adjacent endsof the bars forming one of the side rails of the curtain-stretcher; Fig.3, a bottom plan view of the adjacent ends of the side bars forming theother (and the hinged one) side rail of the curtain-stretcher; Fig. 4,an elevation on line 4. of Fig. l viewed in the direction indicated bythe arrow; Fig. 5, a vertical sectional View on line 5 of Fig. l Viewedin the direction indicated by the arrow, and Fig. 6 is a bot-tom planView ofa modification of the connecting mechanism illustrated in bottomplan view in Fig. 2.

A reference-letter applied to designate a given part in one figure ofthe drawings is used to indicate such part throughout the severalfigures wherever the same appears.

A and B are the side rails, and C D the end rails, of acurtain-stretcher embodying this invention. Side rail A comprises bar a,bar a', and hinge E. Side rail B comprises bars b b and connection F.(See Fig. 2.)

Gis the connecting-bar extending from side rail A to side rail B.

H H are bolts securing the ends of the side and end rails together.

g g are washers on bolts G G and H H, respectively, and g2 g2 arebutterfly-nuts on such bolts G G H H, respectively. G G are boltsextending through holes in the hinge E and connection F, as hereinaftermore fully shown.

Hinge E comprises plates e e', pivotally joined by pin e2. Plate e isprovided with projection or lug es, and plate e is provided withprojection or lug c4. These projections or lugs e3 and e4 interlock, asis well illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

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g is a hole in projection or lug e2, through which the bolt G extendswhen connectingbar G is to be secured in place to the under side of railA, with the hinge E interposed. When such connecting-bar is so securedin place, the projections e2 and el are pressed firmly by suchconnecting-bar G against the under side of bars a et by the setting ofthe nut g2 on bolt G', and great rigidity is thus ecured in the hingedconnection of such ars.

Connection F comprises plate f, bolts G G2 G2, and Washers g' g', withthe butterfly-nuts g2 g2 on such bolts, respectively. The plate fisprovided with the holes f f for bolt G and one of the bolts G2 to passthrough and with the slot f2 for the remaining bolt G2 to pass through.

The connecting-bar G is secured in place to side rail B by bringing suchconnectingbar up against the under side of the plate f of connection F,as is well shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, passing the bolt G' upwardthrough the connecting-bar and plate f and through the bars b b',(between the ends of such bars,) and then placing the washer g on suchbolt, wit-h the butterfly-nut g2 firmly set in place.

The connection F is secured in place and to the bars b b by the boltsG2G2, (see Fig. 4,) passing through holes provided therefor in therespective bars and through the plate f, (one of such bolts passingthrough hole f' and the other through slot f2, as shown in Fig. 2,) andthen setting the buttery-nuts g2 g2 firmly in place on such bolts.

In the modification of connection F, which is lettered F in Fig. 6 ofthe drawings, plate f3 is provided with hole f for the bolt G to passthrough, as in plate f of connection F, and with the slots f4 and f4 forthe bolts G2 G2 to pass through. This plate f2 is secured to the bars bb of side rail B by the bolts G2 G2, passing through the slots f4 f4,respectively, and through the bars b b', such bolts having thereon thewashers g' g' and butterfly-nuts g2 g2 in the same relative position andin the same manner as is shown inFig. 4 relative to connection F. In theuse of this modification, as well as in the use of the constructionillustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, bars b b' can be folded parallel to eachother upon taking out the bolts H I-I at the ends thereof, respectively,without taking bolts G2 G2 out of such bars b b', it being simplynecessary to loosen the butterfly-nuts g2 g2 on such bolts.

The connecting-bar G may be disconnected from the connection F (or F')by taking out the bolt G', or it can be disconnected at the other endthereof from the hinge E by taking out the bolt G therein and allowed toremain connected to the connection F (or F') in the folding of the barsb b', as hereinbefore described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

v1.v In a lace-curtain stretcher, side rails joined to end rails, suchside rails comprising, on one side of the frame, bars hinged together bya hinge the plates whereof are pivotally secured together, withinterlocking projections on the plates, and a cross-bar secured to oneof the projections, and on the other side of the frame, bars joined.together by a connectingplate provided with openings therethrough, boltspassing through such opening and through the bars, nuts on the l bolts,and abolt passing through the central opening in the plate, through thecross-bar which is secured to the hinge on the other side rail, andbetween the ends of the side bars, with a nut on such bolt;substantially as described.

2. In a curtain-stretcher, side rails, one

` whereof comprises bars joined together by a hinge and the other, barsjoined together by a connecting-plate; such hinge consisting of platespivoted together, projections on such plates respectively, suchprojections interlocking when the hinge is open, and means for pivotallyattaching a cross-bar to one of the projections of the hinge, and suchconymeeting-plate consisting of a plate having openings therethrough,bolts having nuts thereon extending through the openings in the plateadjacent to thev ends thereof and through the bars to which the plate isattached, and a bolt extending through the opening in the center of theplate, and through between the ends of the bars forming the side rail,with a washer and av nut on such bolt, and a connecting cross-barsecured to the hinge by a pivot passing through the projection on one ofthe plates thereof and to the connecting-plate by the bolt which passesIOO through the central opening therein; substantially as described.

JAMES C. WHIPPLE.v In presence of CHARLES TURNER BROWN, FLORA L. BROWN.

